Different rules

Pro-labor poster Mike Elk gets it partly right in this post. The NLRB is willing to make incremental, mostly symbolic changes in the rules to aid unions in their organizing attempts. He correctly notes the absence of significant remedies for egregious violations. However he gets it plain wrong (like so many others) when he says shortening of time between a petition for an election and the conducting of the election is a cure for employer intimidation. It isn't.   A meaningful, civil, non-threatening dialogue is not only appropriate prior to an important vote, but necessary for an informed electorate. Card check recognition and instant elections hinder an informed vote. If the problem is employer intimidation, punish the employer's misconduct, don't stifle the discourse or impose a different sort of coercion by eliminating secret ballot elections.